Pupils are secretly recording teachers and using artificial intelligence to manipulate the footage, making it appear as though staff are screaming abuse at children, according to the NASUWT teaching union. The union, which represents around 300,000 teachers across the UK, said the deepfake clips are designed to damage teachers professionally and personally.
A recent trend on TikTok sees recordings of teachers being manipulated by AI-generated video to show them shouting and swearing at pupils. One video shows a teacher slamming papers on a desk with the caption “Average UK school lesson,” while another depicts a male teacher screeching at students, telling them they will “spend the rest of your miserable lives in Leicester” for not working hard enough on their GCSEs.
Matt Wrack, NASUWT’s general secretary, said: “Teachers are facing a terrifying new frontier of digital harassment. The ability to secretly record, edit or fabricate footage of staff poses a profound threat to their safety, dignity and professional standing.” He also highlighted other forms of online abuse, including a case of upskirting where a teacher was forced to work with the same student again.
Mr Wrack noted that physical violence against teachers is at a “shocking level” and often under-recognised compared to other professions. Speaking ahead of the union’s annual conference, he indicated that thousands of teachers could take strike action over concerns about the Government’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms, citing increased workload and inadequate training funding.
